It's Too Late
by HazelHPwiz
Summary: Tony and Ziva have a fight. Will they finally tell Gibbs about their relationship? Or will all be lost?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic, soooo I hope you like! Yeah… KK Byes! Enjoy! :)**

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo does not cry. No matter what."

Gripping the steering wheel of his car, Tony struggled to keep his composure as he drove home. It was the middle of the night and he had just had most possibly his worst fight ever with Ziva.

It had all started when Gibbs had made a remark on the case about rule number twelve. Usually Tony would have just thought of this as just another shout out of one of Gibbs' many rules, but the thing was, Gibbs had looked directly at him when he said it. When Ziva had noticed this from across the room, she had played it cool, using her famous Mossad Poker face. But Tony could tell that she was both alarmed and scared that Gibbs knew about her and Tony.

"Whatever. I don't even care." Tony muttered, slapping the tears off of his face as he tried to see through his rain spattered window. "I could have anyone in the world. It's not like I'm McGeek or anything, and I have to struggle to find one measly date."

Something was seriously wrong. Even making fun of his coworker, Tim McGee didn't make Tony feel better. Shaking his head, Tony decided that he needed to take his mind off of his probably lost relationship. Turning on the radio, it took a minute for him to find a not completely depressing song. Finally, he decided on The Scientist by Coldplay, feeling like he could at least drown his misery in something not totally awful.

"I can't believe he just walked out of here like that." Ziva muttered, throwing the remains of her and Tony's dinner in the sink, not even caring enough to at least rinse them off before she slumped down on her couch in the living room.

What had at first seemed like it would be a fun night, had quickly turned bad halfway through. Halfway through their second course, Tony had brought up the subject of Gibbs, and how he had suggested that it would be smarter to quit your job than date your coworker. Tony had just laughed this implication off, saying that Gibbs was just putting it out there that he shouldn't date Ziva, but he had no clue that they actually were together.

After all, Ziva had broken up with Ray barely a month ago, and no one would expect her to jump into another relationship until a minimum of six months later based on her past relationships. The thing was, not two weeks later, Tony had appeared at her apartment toting a bottle of wine and an open mind for all of her problems. One thing had led to another, and soon Ziva had found herself head over heels for him.

"I should have listened to Gibbs and McGee. At the least I should have heard Abby out." For years McGee and Abby had agreed that even though her and Tony had undeniable chemistry, they would probably kill each other within two minutes of their first date. Gibbs on the other hand had always reminded them of rule number twelve, never date a coworker, and for good reason apparently.

Ziva and Tony had in fact miraculously managed to make it through not one, but an entire month of dates, until tonight of course. Sure, they had had a few disagreements, but they had always been settled in no time at all. But tonight, when Tony and Ziva had begun discussing rule number twelve, and how they were breaking it completely, something had gone wrong.

Tony had suggested that they tell Gibbs!

**Hmmm… Sorry this chapter is a bit short… I the next one will hopefully be longer. Please comment! Byes!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! So, at first I thought this would be a one shot… But then I started listening to the song "The Scientist" By Coldplay, and decided to make it a song-fic/chapter thingie. **

**I don't own the characters or the song included, just my imagination! :)**

"What. Ever." Tony mumbled as he slowly parked his car in the tiny space in front of his apartment building.

Turning the radio up, Tony rested his head against the back of his seat as the lyrics of the song slowly engulfed him.

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you, tell you I need your

Tell you I set you apart

Tony wished that he could tell Ziva he loved her, once and for all. Their relationship had just sort of… Happened. He had never really told her how much he cared for her. If only they hadn't gotten into this stupid fight, then he could have told her he loved her more than anything in the world. Even more than movies, and that was saying something.

Tell me your secrets, and asks me your questions

Oh lets go back to the start

Running in circles, coming up tails

Heads on a science apart

Tony knew that Ziva had let him into her heart, something that she almost never did, for it almost always ended with her feeling completely heartbroken. But one day, she had decided to let him in. Now, Tony knew that Ziva was probably heartbroken once again, blaming herself for letting him into her heart.

"What's that American saying? Fall down someone's throat? I didn't mean to do that to Tony! But when he suggested telling Gibbs…" Ziva trailed off, thinking about how she had immediately started yelling at Tony, saying he was being just as careless as usual. She knew that he wasn't thinking it through; it was much more possible that Gibbs would Gibbs Slap Tony to death than him welcoming their relationship with open arms.

Once Tony and she started fighting, as everyone knew, they couldn't stop. It was one stinging comment after another, in a competition to see who could come up with the best retort quickest. In the end, Ziva couldn't remember who said the last remark, or what they said. All she knew was that the next thing she knew, she was lying on the couch, memories of Michael Rivkin, Ray, Somalia, her father, her sister, Ari, and everyone else who had ever had an impact on her life flying through her head in a bright mist of colors and voices.

One sentence always seemed to end up at the front of her mind, ringing endlessly in her ears, no matter how hard she tried to shove it away. "Couldn't live without you, I guess." It was what Tony had said when he, McGee, and Gibbs had rescued her from Somalia.

Just by speaking those five little words, Tony had filled Ziva's heart with the hope that maybe she was really wanted. After being hurt by so many people, so many times, Ziva had closed her heart off completely and banished all of the ugly memories of her past out of her mind. She had been ready to die, ready to accept her fate. But when Saleem had pulled the bag off of her head and revealed Tony staring at her, chained to a chair, her entire reality for the past three months had been flipped upside down.

The fact that anyone, not just Tony but anyone, would risk their lives just to get revenge on her killer had shown her that someone actually cared.

**Sorry, this chapter was shorter than I was planning on making it, but the next one will *hopefully* be longer! :) Comment Please! :**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So, first of all, thanks for all of your support! Comments, Story Alerting, and just taking the time to read my story! :D :D :D**

**Also, I made this chapter longer, so I really hope you like it! :) Kk… Byes! ;D**

**Ps. I don't own NCIS or Coldplay, even though that would be totally awesome :)**

Finding it completely cliché that he was sitting in the car, in the rain, listening to music, Tony smiled for the first time since he had left the NCIS building. His smile slowly faded, though, as he began to think about how his life with Ziva used to be, when he hadn't yet admitted to himself that he was in love with her, and no number of gorgeous women could change that.

Nobody said it was easy

It's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh, take me back to the start.

If only they could go back to the start of their relationship, when everything was carefree and there was just a small level of harmless banter between the two, nothing more, and nothing less. Of course, Tony had been a bit depressed at that point, after all, his previous partner, Kate, had just been killed before his eyes by Ziva's brother. At least that was easier than this!

Tony did not enjoy second guessing himself, or his motives. It seemed like when he had still been hiding his feelings for Ziva, he could say or do anything he wanted, be himself, without feeling like he was, what was it, anyways, betraying her? It had been so much easier when he could look at any woman in anyway and the only thing that he'd have to worry about was a head slap from Gibbs or an eye roll from Ziva. Plus, like she even had room to talk! She'd flirted with a number of witnesses and suspects alike in the past, so what gave her the right to jump on his case.

I was just guessing at numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart

Questions of science, science and progress

Do not speak as loud as my heart

And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me

Oh and I rush to the start

Running in circles, chasing our tails

Coming back as we are

It had been obvious from the time that EJ had disappeared, that Tony was completely head over heels for Ziva. At least, that's how EJ had made it sound when they were staying in the Safe House together. She'd told him that Ziva cared, and he'd replied saying it could never happen, that they were co-workers and they had each other's back, that's all. Still, it sounded like EJ was implying that Ziva cared for him more than he loved her, like she was trying to convince him to like her or something.

He didn't need to be convinced, he was already in love with her, and had been ever since she stepped out of the elevator for the very first time after they had returned to NCIS. Tony had actually started really seeing her as more than a friend after she had helped him get over Jeanne. The only problem was that he had no idea what he was doing. Tony had only had two serious relationships in his life, and both of them ended up in heartbreak. How was he supposed to know how to prevent that from happening?

Nobody said it was easy

Oh it's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be so hard

I'm going back to the start

As the song ended, Tony's mind finally drifted to how it had felt when Ziva had told him that Ray had proposed. It was like his heart was being wrenched from his chest and stabbed repeatedly with a paperclip. No way was he going to let this show, though. Putting on a tough face, Tony had tried to be the supportive friend that Ziva had been after he had broken up with Jeanne. It wasn't easy, especially when he had had to try to get Ziva to actually think the proposal through, and consider saying yes.

Turning the radio off, Tony noticed an eerie silence falling around him. Only the soft smattering sounds of the rain interrupted his peace. Looking out the window at the dark clouds above, covering the full moon completely, Tony wondered what life without Ziva would be like. Suddenly, Gibbs' image popped up in his mind, and Tony realized that if he gave up this chance to be with someone who could most probably be the love of his life, he would end up with Gibbs, marrying women who he hardly loved in order to insure that he'd end up alone.

Tony could see himself living in regret for the rest of his life, all because he let Ziva get away. Sure, he'd become team leader, but his entire existence would be miserable. Tony needed someone to keep him in line, someone who could comfort him every year when his dad forgot his birthday, and could make sure he never got too involved in a case. Most of all, he needed someone to help him one day raise a few little DiNozzo's, and he couldn't do that if he ended up practically living in his basement.

No, Tony didn't just want Ziva more than anything, he needed her. Pulling his car into reverse, Tony slowly backed out of his parking spot and turned the car around, splashing through puddles as he rushed out of his neighborhood and onto the highway. He had to tell Ziva he was sorry, even if it meant losing her in the end, he at least needed to let her know how he felt.

Ziva pulled herself off of the couch and slumped over to her bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she noticed that her face was all red and splotchy, both from crying and from furiously scrubbing the tears off of her face with a woolen blanket. Leaning down, she turned on the faucet and splashed some ice cold water on her face.

The water had the effect that she wanted, once Ziva had dried her face with a hand towel and walked back into her living room, she noticed that she could think much clearer. Plopping down on the couch, Ziva again attempted to think her options through. She could either apologize to Tony, which was possible, tell Gibbs, also possible, or forget about him completely. The last option would probably be the most painful, especially because this time she wouldn't have a friend to help her through it all. But at least this option would allow her to keep her self-respect and still go to work normally every day, pretending nothing had ever been going on between her and Agent DiNozzo.

A sharp rapping alerted Ziva from her daydream-like state. "Who the heck's out this late?" She murmured, glancing at the clock on her wall and seeing that it was almost one a.m.

Drawing her gun just in case, Ziva slowly glided across the carpet until she was a mere inches away from the door. Sidestepping to the right, she ducked around a potted plant and slowly reached over; grasping the doorknob and swinging open the door.

**Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be my last, but I've been thinking about a sequel… Idk, tell me what you think :) Byes!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is the last chapter in this story, so I really hope you like! :D Anyways, like I said in the last chapter, I'm thinking about a sequel. Should I make one?**

**As always: I don't own NCIS or any of the characters :'(**

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_ Ziva quickly unloaded three rounds and was about to shoot again when Tony came sprinting in through the open doorway, yelling for Ziva to hold her fire.

"T-Tony? What are you doing here so late?" Ziva asked, not yet lowering the gun as she quickly closed the door.

"I'll tell you… Once you put down the gun!" Tony panted, clutching his chest as he muttered about having heart palpitations.

"What? Oh, sure." Ziva replied, quickly sliding the gun into its holster on her hip.

"Thank you." Tony responded, dropping his hands from his chest and quickly ducking his head.

Ziva felt her heart melting as she looked at him standing so vulnerably in front of her, his hands deep in his pockets. Feeling like she should at least say something, Ziva opened her mouth to apologize, pausing for a minuet as she tried to think of what to say. Apparently, Tony had the same idea, because just as she started to speak, a flood of words flew out of his mouth as he looked up at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Tony I am so sorry. I did not mean what I said. I have thought it through and I decided that we should tell Gibbs, it's better that he knows from us than from Abby or McGee."

"Ziva, listen to me. I'm sorry. You're right, telling Gibbs would be dumb, he'd probably head slap me to death, or at least until I had so little brain cells that I couldn't remember my own name." Tony babbled, cutting himself off once he realized that Ziva was saying the exact opposite as he was.

The two stood there not speaking for a moment, trying to process what the other had said. Ziva was the first one to speak, feeling immensely bad for first shooting at him and then cutting him off when he had tried to speak.

"Tony… You are right. We should tell Gibbs." Ziva said, looking at Tony's awe inspired expression for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Ziva David, are you actually _agreeing_ with me?" He asked, still looking at her with a shocked expression.

"Yes. Now act less surprised before I go and find a paperclip."

Tony chuckled once before finally gaining a more somber expression. "I am sorry, Ziva. Really. If you don't want to tell Gibbs, it's okay."

"Tony, I do. Do you still want to, though?"

"I'll do anything, as long as we get to be together." Tony replied, before pulling Ziva into a long, passionate kiss. When they broke apart, they were both beaming, happy that they had finally come to an agreement and that they were sure that the other person truly loved them.

"Buuuttt… We might have to tell him fast. I may or may not have told Abby, Ducky, and Palmer yesterday…"

**So, what do you think? Sequel? Comment! :**


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